New Vienna student earns award at Geography Conference

Ohio Wesleyan geography majors Hayden Knisley of New Vienna and Lonnie Barnes (center) earned Best Undergraduate Paper and Best Undergraduate Poster awards, respectively, at the annual conference of the East Lakes Division of the Association of American Geographers. The students are shown with their OWU mentors – faculty members Nathan Amador (left) and Nicholas Crane (right).

Photo by John Krygier

Ohio Wesleyan University students Lonnie Barnes and Hayden Knisley of New Vienna earned Best Undergraduate Poster and Best Undergraduate Paper awards, respectively, at the annual conference of the East Lakes Division of the Association of American Geographers.

The conference, held Oct. 9-10 at Kent State University, featured presentations from faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students, and professionals from all fields of study in human geography, physical geography, and cartography.

Knisley, OWU Class of 2017, is a geography major from New Vienna. His paper discussed his study of “Student Playgrounds: Alliances of Entrepreneurial Governance in the Creation of Student Spaces at Two Universities.” Knisley was mentored by geology-geography faculty member Nicholas Crane, Ph.D.

“My paper was examining the role that universities play in the creation of student spaces in the areas surrounding their respective campuses,” Knisley said. “Specifically, I was looking at how these constructed spaces encourage certain lifestyle choices for the students, and how these choices imbue the students with ‘value’ (when competing in the job market for example),” he said. “I then explained how these scripted student lifestyle choices interact with the way secondary education works in the United States, relating it to the student debt crisis.”

Barnes, OWU Class of 2016, is a geography major and Spanish minor from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. His poster shared information about his research into “The Geography of Chicago’s Heat Island from 1995 to Today.”

Both students anticipate attending graduate school to pursue advanced degrees and both received Ohio Wesleyan-funded Student Individualized Project grants to support their experiences at the Association of American Geographers conference.

Submitted by Ohio Wesleyan University.

Ohio Wesleyan geography majors Hayden Knisley of New Vienna and Lonnie Barnes (center) earned Best Undergraduate Paper and Best Undergraduate Poster awards, respectively, at the annual conference of the East Lakes Division of the Association of American Geographers. The students are shown with their OWU mentors – faculty members Nathan Amador (left) and Nicholas Crane (right).

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2015/10/web1_NVstudentawardpic.jpgOhio Wesleyan geography majors Hayden Knisley of New Vienna and Lonnie Barnes (center) earned Best Undergraduate Paper and Best Undergraduate Poster awards, respectively, at the annual conference of the East Lakes Division of the Association of American Geographers. The students are shown with their OWU mentors – faculty members Nathan Amador (left) and Nicholas Crane (right). Photo by John Krygier